Friday, June 17, 2016

For those of you who prefer your books in print, I'm pleased to be able to let you know that Peter Grant's new and very well-regarded Western novel, Brings the Lightning, is now available in hardcover. Book One of The Ames Archives is 272 pages and retails for $19.99.

The production team is working hard at bringing all of our 40+ full-length ebooks into print; our current goal is to publish two ebooks and four print books per month. The next books to go into print will be John C. Wright's Iron Chamber of Memory and the omnibus hardcover of There Will Be War Vols IX and X. We also intend to re-release A Throne of Bones in a new, royal octavo editions in July, case-bound hardcover and paperback.

From the reviews:

Lean and taut. A tale told well. Grant has written an old fashioned western, and the subject fits his writing style well. His prose is spare and straightforward, without any extraneous elements, flowery descriptions, or narrative asides. The plot is straightforward, yet interesting. And, best of all, he's easy to read.

I'm primarily a science fiction,
fantasy, and self help reader, but found this book very enjoyable. It
was thoughtful and steady, some twists, with good solid characters and
believable action. Usually westerns just don't ring true like this one
does. I've recently read The Heart of Everything That Is and Empire of
the Summer Moon, both non-fiction, and both fully supportive background
for the story in Brings the Lightning. I'm hoping that there is another
one in the works.

Wonderful! I am thrilled that a real western has been written once more. This book rings true to me having grown up amongst the last remnants of the world Grant writes about.

Zane Grey has a peer! Mr. Grant, author of several other novels, brings his expertise to bear on this authentic Western. The characters are genuine, and the writing is true to life, with historically accurate details. You'll like the characters, you'll like the writing, and you'll like the story. I can't help but compare Brings the Lightning to Zane Grey's novels, because that's the only other author whose writings are comparable. HIGHLY recommended!

Author Peter Grant has done his homework, and it shows. Before the main journey even begins Ames has to deal with bushwhackers, Union occupation, and the aftermath of the Missouri guerrila war and Bleeding Kansas. The collection of colorful characters are entertaining too, including cheating gamblers, corrupt army officer, and the lecherous husband of a schoolmarm. Grant's descriptions really add a "you are there" feel to the book. As someone who grew up on the plains, his descriptions of the terrain and dangers were spot-on. Grant also provides great how-to details, such as moving and defending a wagon train on open ground. Gun buffs will love the trip to the Nashville gunsmith early in the book.

20 Comments:

I'm reading Zane Grey now, The Mysterious Rider, and I enjoy his writing. Rider's of the Purple Sage is a must read, so is Day of the Beast.

I understand that this is Peter Grant's first attempt writing a Western, its a good first attempt and I can appreciate all that he has done, especially staying true to the spirit of the western.

As for now, Walt Ames is no Lassiter, nor is he a Hell Bent Wade, but he seems to be on the road to becoming a hero like them.

To me, Lightning read like a first person shooter video game from the very first gun fight sequence where you can learn how to maneuver, shoot, change weapons, search bodies, acquire weapons and supplies and so on, it sees a lot like a walk through tutorial. I'm not sure if the writer did this on purpose or not.

Never the less, I enjoyed the novel and found myself really caring about the protagonist and wanting to read more, the action scenes were well done, so I do look forward to future books in the series.

I've said this before, I appreciate what Castalia House has set out to do, and I am going to be supporting them as much as I can by both buying their titles and spreading the word.

I would like to know if there are any plans for Castalia house to produce graphic novels. It would be refreshing to see some new heroes.

I liked Zane Grey as well as L'Amour. I would say they were peers, but that's a matter for personal taste. I'm planning to buy "Brings the Lightning." We could use a revivification of the genre and, based on the reviews, it looks like Peter may be doing it.

There are some westerns out there, but the quality I've seen is pretty low.

Some of the first "adult" books I read as a child came from my parents' vast collection of Louis L'Amour. The problem with many of his books were that about 70% of them were essentially the same book. His best work was when he ventured off the template. I've always thought Elmer Kelton was a better writer, but he limited his books to what he knew best: West Texas. The West is more than Texas. After reading Brings the Lightning, I see a lot of potential. The book was good, and I expect the next few to be even better. He really did his homework on weapons, geography, and even the nuances of driving a mule team.

Speaking of Westerns I've been watching Longmire a modern Western on Nettflix, I know they're based on a series of books, I haven't read them, but the show is good, despite predictable progressive propaganda that seems infect every show.

There's also a lot of occult symbolism in the show which I think your average viewer misses. Some examples:

The first episode of the show, the first time we see Longmire he's in the shower and we see two scars on his shoulder blades which allude to him being a fallen angel stripped of his wings.

Longmire drives a dodge ram, he also has a baphomet sculpture on his desk.

His best friend owns the bar the Red Pony, alluding to one of the four horsemen. The red horse brought war and death I believe.

Also in the first or one of the first episodes while at the Red Pony his best friend tells him crypticly that he needs to get back on the horse.

Is Longmire one of the four horsemen? For a small town sherif he sure is up to his elbows in murder cases.

In one of the first episodes Walt goes to give the news to a family that someone has died, while Walt is on the porch of the house you notice that the house number is 664, meaning the next house over is 666, also if you pause the video at the moment it shows the house number, there is a wind chime made of half moons, the half moons are positioned to form a descending 666. Do I sound crazy yet? Well maybe, but you just need to watch it for yourself.

ThirdMonkey, I really loved "The Time it Never Rained" but I haven't read any of his other books. I'll have to check them. Even though he's a bit of a prog, McMurtry is still my go-to for westerns. Lonesome Dove is one of the best novels from the 20th century in any genre.

J A Baker wrote:Speaking of Westerns I've been watching Longmire a modern Western on Nettflix, I know they're based on a series of books, I haven't read them, but the show is good, despite predictable progressive propaganda that seems infect every show.

There's also a lot of occult symbolism in the show which I think your average viewer misses. Some examples:

The first episode of the show, the first time we see Longmire he's in the shower and we see two scars on his shoulder blades which allude to him being a fallen angel stripped of his wings.

Longmire drives a dodge ram, he also has a baphomet sculpture on his desk.

His best friend owns the bar the Red Pony, alluding to one of the four horsemen. The red horse brought war and death I believe.

Also in the first or one of the first episodes while at the Red Pony his best friend tells him crypticly that he needs to get back on the horse.

Is Longmire one of the four horsemen? For a small town sherif he sure is up to his elbows in murder cases.

In one of the first episodes Walt goes to give the news to a family that someone has died, while Walt is on the porch of the house you notice that the house number is 664, meaning the next house over is 666, also if you pause the video at the moment it shows the house number, there is a wind chime made of half moons, the half moons are positioned to form a descending 666. Do I sound crazy yet? Well maybe, but you just need to watch it for yourself.

Interesting. I've watched a lot of the show but I never noticed those elements. I'll check them out later

My biggest issue with Longmire is the fact he is such a whiny depressive cowboy. I've a actually lived in Wyoming and people of his age would be expected suck it up and move on, well at least they were.

Also Wyoming has fewer murders in the state than on that show , 14 a year in total and no gun registry.

I know Helly-Weird doesn't know anything about firearms or police investigation but they could ask cops in those states about how such investigations are done or just assume the logical things, the cops would ask his neighbors or maybe check a gun shop for Federal forms

The Longmire 664 house number scene happens at about the 11 minute mark of the very first episode. If you freeze it when you first see the house number when he's standing on the porch, two half moons on the wind chime come together at the same eye level of the house number to form the third 6. Using the half moons could also be another ocultism reference having to do with astrology.